Fuck You Money

Deviating a bit from mining the R&B charts for tenuous pro skater comparisons

Taking a break from beating the Koston shoe-sponsor horse into a fine, not-all-that-humorous powder has given me some time to really, you know, lay back in the cut and marinate on this whole thing for a while. Like, perhaps Koston’s abrupt ship-jumping isn’t predicated on some brass-ring grab or a valiant effort to shore up Lakai’s balance sheet, but rather a wish to live out the remaining years of pro-skaterdom in whichever kicks he sees fit.

The above pic, which purports to depict Koston skating a pair of Adidas, got me thinking that he may be having a jolly old time sampling the ever-expanding skate shoe buffet, confounding internet speculators and no doubt enduring a fair amount of grilling from the old lady in the process. But why not eh? Koston’s been a loyal soldier for the past 15 years or so, if you aren’t looking at his trucks, and if he hasn’t earned the right to play the field a little bit before Nike makes the official announcement, well, who has.

However – and here comes the obligatory “the 90s were better” part – think it would be kind of cool if Eric Koston played this thread out for the rest of his career. Forthcoming multi-zillion-dollar contracts notwithstanding, he’s already got some money, and if there ever was a working pro skater out there that can get by without a shoe check, he’s the one right? A video part featuring a smorgasbord of skate shoes on Koston’s feet would probably be kinda jarring, but could serve to remind us that there once was a time when you could maybe skate another company’s board/shoes/shirt and the footage wouldn’t be slated for the low-res web clip file. An element of mystique even – recall if you will Gino’s Reeboks from the 101 part, the shoes that launched a thousand Slap board queries; to a lesser extent, the Sauconys sported by Smolik in his TSM interview or Simon Woodstock’s clown shoes.

5 Responses to “Fuck You Money”

Or what about setting up a new business model: freelance reppin’. Have the sponsors bid for any upcoming trick/contest/video clip. Especially since the logo can be photo shopped in. On another note I still miss seeing Gonz in Simples.

I always see Lutzka wearing Krew (Guy also?) yet either of them receive a check. The worst “skation without representation” is Richard Angelides. Shouldn’t he have had about a dozen Shelltoe colorways by now?